What if The Smurfs had continued production?
What would happen if the Hanna-Barbera version of The Smurfs didn't cancel and resolved the cliffhanger to the time-travel storyline after being renewed for another season? Will the show switch from NBC to TBS Superstation for the tenth season, later move on to USA Network for the twelth season and finally Cartoon Network for the sixteenth season? And what would happen when production is switched from Hanna-Barbera Productions to Warner Bros. Animation and ended after Season 23, becoming one of the longest-running animated series on television? Let's figure out what will happen. History Prior to The Smurfs' cancellation on NBC in August of 1990, TBS Superstation had recently renewed the show for a tenth season in December 1989, in which a TV special is the conclusion to the previous season's time-travel saga. Due to Paul Winchell leaving the show in disgust after reading the season 9 scripts, Michael Bell played Gargamel in this episode. After the special, the series's tenth season reverted to its Seasons 1-2 timeline permanently, which was used around the rest of the series, leading fans to consider the Seasons 3-9 timeline as non-canon. As the series progressed, it went through an undergo in character development and well-developed storylines. The backgrounds becoming more detailed and clear, and the animation becoming more fluid and better-staged than it usually was when the series originally began. Gargamel was reworked to be more comical and incompetent, while Azrael was put as a Muttley-esque character in some occasions, usually making fun of his owner when he is attacked and/or chased away by either some one-time character(s) or Bigmouth, and a new character, a dimwitted vulture named Monty (who bears an almost identical resemblance to the Howlibird from The Smurfs and the Howlibird, but with grey feathers instead of green ones), who serves as Gargamel's second pet, was created to the show and became a permanent character in the franchise. After the tenth season premiere, Michael Bell was replaced with Hank Azaria as Gargamel. Johan and Peewit also made their return as a recurring segment, despite not being connected with The Smurfs at all (which caused some controversy among fans), along with segments based on Peyo's other comic strips Benny Breakiron and Poussy. For the role of Benny Breakiron, various male child actors were chosen to voice the character throughout the show. Within the introduction of the tenth season, Kathi Castillo replaced Paul Sabella as the new producer of the show. Around Season 16, Alan Zaslove became the next producer until Hanna-Barbera dissolved in 2001. Under Warner Bros. Animation, starting with Season 21, Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone became producers for the remainder of the series. Right after Season 11 had completed production, the producers realized that Danny Goldman had resigned to work on other cartoon shows after he had announced his retirement. So, they brought in Barry Gordon to voice Brainy Smurf until Season 18. But by the twelfth season, the show made its switch from airing on TBS Superstation to USA Network. It later moved to Cartoon Network around Season 16 for the remainder of the series' run. In Season 18, Danny Goldman took his role back as Brainy Smurf (after his absence for six seasons straight) and continued voicing the character for the remainder of the series' run. In Season 19, production of the animation had switched from traditional hand-colored cel animation to digital ink-and-paint. Episodes Special Season 10 (1990) Season 11 (1991) Season 12 (1992) Season 13 (1993) Season 14 (1994) Season 15 (1995) Season 16 (1996) Season 17 (1997) Season 18 (1998) Season 19 (1999) Season 20 (2000) Season 21 (2001) Season 22 (2002) Season 23 (2003) Trivia * The tenth season was mainly the first to use the South Korean-based studio AKOM. It was the new producer, Kathi Castillo, who optioned to use the studio for the series in contrast to the other overseas studios. The series began to switch between both this studio and the Filipino-based studio, Fil-Cartoons. Halfway through season 16, Fil-Cartoons was let go in favor of Rough Draft Korea, which stayed as the new main overseas studio, along with the remaining overseas studio AKOM, until Hanna-Barbera dissolved in early 2001. Under Warner Bros. Animation, AKOM was let go and Rough Draft Korea became the only studio until the end of the series' run. * Oliver, Homnibus' teenaged servant in the original comic books was finally introduced in the tenth season and is voiced by Rob Paulsen. * Fil-Cartoons, AKOM and Rough Draft Korea had three separate and different ways of handling the animation. ** AKOM's animation handled the limited animation style of the series. Their animation used to be handled well with its fluidness, but by later seasons, their animation fell flat as it took a nosedive in quality. ** Rough Draft's animation handled the limited animation style of the series as well, but the animation by them is more fast-paced and times more exaggerated compared to AKOM's. ** Fil-Cartoons' animation is more on the level of Warner Bros.-style animation than the other two studios. * Many fans consider this to be an improvement over the first nine seasons of the show, due to the animation and voice work being handled well. Another fact is that other comics by Peyo, Benoit Brisefer and Poussy have been added into the mix. * Monty the Vulture would later be featured in Sony's Smurfs: The Lost Village. Category:Hanna-Barbera Category:Cartoon Network Category:Warner Bros. Animation Category:Alternate Reality Category:GrishamAnimationStudios102's ideas Category:KKDisney's ideas Category:DonaldoC1997's ideas Category:What If? Category:Theories